


Ghosts of Our Past

by LetsgoRavendors



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, One Shot, Reincarnated AU, Six the musical - Freeform, but flashbacks to her past life, happy death day kat, katherine howard deserved better, six - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:35:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29412747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetsgoRavendors/pseuds/LetsgoRavendors
Summary: They say the ghost of Katherine Howard haunts Hampton Court Palace. That you can still see her screaming specter running down the now dubbed “Haunted Gallery”, begging for The King’s mercy.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 49





	Ghosts of Our Past

**Author's Note:**

> TW: mentions of h*nry and references of death
> 
> The story of Kat’s ghost is real btw, i didn’t make it up. (This was published on February 13th I swear, ao3 just changed it to the 14th for some reason so damn now I look dumb-)

It had been the fifth year since their reincarnation when the Queens and Ladies decided they were ready to return to Hampton Court. The prospect of visiting the Tower of London sent Anne and Kat’s stomachs churning, and it probably always would since one doesn’t simply forget about being beheaded.

That’s not to say that Hampton Court wasn’t a place with bad memories, each Queen and Lady had their fair share of terrible times at that place, but also some bittersweet ones they had decided they were prepared to visit again.

The group had booked a tour—not like they thought they needed one, if anything they could probably teach the guide a thing or two—and stepped into the entrance hall of Hampton Court with a clump of other tourists on one hot August day.

The group of Queens and Ladies settled in the back of the tour once it began. The interior of the palace was more or less preserved, of course now the lighting was electric instead of candles and there were railings along the side to be sure guests didn’t disturb anything. Katherine was actually quite impressed how much of it looked the same, she would have expected the modern world to have unfortunately bulldozed over it and build a Starbucks or something like that. It was comforting to know that people still cared about history.

The youngest Queen had trailed behind, caught up in her thoughts, though she paused completely at an opening of a hallway. The group moving ahead was suddenly forgotten as Howard froze in place. She had recognized every room of the palace, yes, but this corridor was all too familiar. Hadn’t she heard the tour guide talk about it as they passed by? Kat vaguely remembered him gesturing to the hall and calling it the “haunted” something or other, but she had gotten distracted by Anne being reprimanded by Jane when she snorted loudly, hearing Cathy mutter “that's wrong” under her breath as she diligently read through a pamphlet she’d picked up on their way in.

The pink-haired girl's feet becoming unstuck to the floor, she slowly began to walk.

She entered the room, breaking into an eerie type of silence.

The walls were covered in a red tapestry with white designs on it, a window on either side of the hall towards the end, letting in enough natural lighting so the sparse electric ones weren’t the only things keeping the corridor out of the shadows. The old wooden floor was covered down the middle by a carpet that stretched from end to end. A nauseous feeling churned in her stomach as Katherine saw the large portraits of Henry hanging on the walls, no matter how much time has passed, the girl would never not feel sick at the sight or mention of him.

Howard was about to turn on her heels and leave, this particular hallway stirred up memories she would prefer to stay buried but it suddenly felt like someone had put two cups over her ears, everything becoming unsettling quiet for a moment. Kat felt a shiver go down her spine, the atmosphere of the halls turning ice cold which was quite odd considering summer was a full swing.

Then the screaming began. It started out faint, so soft Katherine was sure she was imagining it until the volume raised abruptly. Soon, screams and shouts filled the hall, echoing off the familiar yet different walls, and inside her head, the fifth queen could make out muddled cries and pleas.

But not just anyone’s screams, they were her’s.

_Feet thumping against the floor as the footsteps and yells of guards followed Katherine down the hall towards the Chapel._

_“Your Majesty, Please! Please! I am innocent, I swear! I would never do such things, please, I beg of you, have mercy on me!” The young girl yelled, hair whipping back as she ran and the skirt of her dress trailing behind her. The dooming feeling of armed guards chasing her spurred Katherine on at her last desperate attempt to see Henry, to beg for his forgiveness and for her freedom._

_She was so close. The dark oak door of the Chapel in sight, so close her arm reached out, ready to twist the doorknob and rush to the King. But just as she began to feel hopeful, a forceful hand grabbed her arm and yanked her back. A blood curtailing scream left her lips._

_“No!” She cried, trying to wrench herself away from the guard's grasp, but in seconds she was seized by others. “No! You must let me see the King, he must know of my innocence!” The guards only held her tighter as she thrashed more, fighting for her life._

_“No, please! I am innocent! Your Majesty, please!” Her screams were in vain as she was dragged away, away from the Chapel, away from the King. Away from her last sliver of hope for freedom._

_As the young girl was hauled back to her room, something deep down inside her knew she was already as good as gone. From that point on she was a dead woman walking among the living._

Her past self’s cries seemed to echo through the red-walled room as Katherine was brought back to the 21st century. Or perhaps those shouts were just inside her own head, imprinted in her mind like a tattoo. But they were painful, both the memory that came with them and how broken they sounded. The idea of ghosts like ones she had seen in movies felt a bit ridiculous to Katherine, but the fifth Queen couldn’t deny that there definitely was some part of herself from all those years ago restlessly roaming this hall.

A surge of lightheadedness crashed over Howard and she blinked harshly to try and get bearings as the yells kept reverberating in her skill, the action forcing out a few tears that she quickly swept away. As a thought quickly occurred to her, Katherine whirled her head around only to find the hall behind her empty and her heart thumped with relief; no guards were after her. She wasn’t in the 1500’s anymore, she was safe.

Her brown eyes flicked to the paintings lining the walls, the long-dead King’s images seemed to watch her. Judging her. He never thought she belonged at court, and he certainly wouldn’t have changed his mind now—not that she cared, but the look in his painted, beady eyes unsettled her nerves.

Then, like her legs had a mind of their own, she began striding down the hall. Though Katherine wasn’t sure why until her eyes set on the double doors of the Chapel, her determined gate stopping right in front of it.

A few moments passed that seemed like hours as Howard stared down the door. They must have persevered it somehow because it looked exactly the same, same wood and designs carved into it and the same iron handle. She remembered staring at the door as the guards dragged her away, how this godforsaken door was what kept her from possibly avoiding death.

She often wondered that if maybe she had run faster or fought harder, she would’ve made it.

Or maybe it was just fate. In that life, she was never supposed to make it to the door because maybe if she had, she wouldn’t be where she was today.

Perhaps it was set in stone that she was never going to reach that door in her past life. But not in this one. Her arm raised hesitantly, but after a moment's consideration, she moved forward.

And she finally reached the door.

As soon as her fingers touched cool metal, the haunting echo inside her faded away. The silence seemed to deafeningly ring in her ears as a wave of inexplicable relief washed over her. Finally, there was true quiet, both inside her mind and out.

“Only 478 years late.” Kat mused under her breath, her lips twitching up though it wasn’t exactly a happy beam. No, it was a bittersweet smile because it wasn’t a moment for melancholy tears or pure joy. It was such a quiet, small action that Katherine was caught off guard at how hard that feeling of resolution hit her. The young Queen’s eyes welling up a bit as she stayed there for a few moments, relishing in the feeling that she had accomplished something that had haunted her for years and years. A long-deserved feeling of content finally washed over.

Then, as fast as Howard walked down the hall, she turned to walk out, only she halted halfway.

The room had warmed up to match the August weather outside and the once unsettled feeling in her gut had lifted into an almost peaceful sensation. She felt for the first time like she belonged there, that she wasn’t disturbing anything, even if that thing was some part of her former self.

Finally reaching that door was closure in a weird, unexpected way. Maybe that's what her trapped soul needed after being stuck for years, replaying those moments running down the hall yet never quite getting to the door. Maybe that part of her couldn’t rest until Katherine had finally reached the door one way or another, and now that her restless spirit’s purpose was fulfilled, it could finally sleep for good. The torment of what almost could have been was laid to rest.

She left the room, leaving behind a comfortable type of silence.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy death day Kat. You deserved so much better.
> 
> Hearing the story about Howard’s ghost legit made me start to believe in them a bit more. It’s actually really fucking interesting (and heartbreaking), so if you want to read more about it just google “Katherine Howard screaming specter” 
> 
> Also, I wasn’t Planning on doing anything for Howard’s death day, but then I did so here y’all go. Sorry if it seems not as put together is my other stories since I kind of wrote this today so my bad... (its also kinda short but c’est la vie)
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are fucking awesome, I love y’all so much ❤️


End file.
